| Multinationals suspend business in China as fallout from coronavirus widens. British Airways cancelled all flights to and from the country for the “next few days”, as carmaker Toyota suspended production at four auto plants and Starbucks closed 2,000 of its Chinese outlets, cautioning that its annual results could be hit by the deadly disease. | |
| Apple has recorded its biggest ever quarterly profit as America’s largest listed company defied forecasts that iPhone sales would fall. Revenues from the iPhone rose by 8pc in the final three months of 2019 to $56bn (£43bn), Apple said. | |
 | One of the City’s most powerful voices has rallied behind Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) boss Tim Martin in his bitter feud with shareholders over the pub giant’s board. The Investor Forum, which represents a group of investors with more than £18.5 trillion under management, has emerged as an unlikely ally of Mr Martin as it publishes its annual report. |
| House prices rose at their fastest annual rate in more than a year in January, adding to signs of a pickup in the sector and broader economic confidence since Boris Johnson’s election victory last month. Annual house prices increased 1.9pc in January from 1.4pc in December, according to the Nationwide House Price Index, the fastest rate since November 2018. |
 | Boeing Co (BOE) swung to its first annual loss since 1997 on mounting 737 MAX costs and indicated it would again cut production of its bigger 787 Dreamliner aircraft, currently its main source of cash. |
 | Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) has unveiled a one-year fixed-rate savings deal which pays one per cent, the first time a deal of this length from Britain’s big four open to non-customers has paid that much since December 2018. |
| The BBC will slash one in seven jobs from its news division as it revealed cuts today in a drive to save £80million. | |
| Wickes’ sales have increased ahead of the DIY and building supplies firm’s split from parent business Travis Perkins. | |
 | David Knight, chief executive of home furnishings retailer SCS Group (SCS) has announced that he will leave the company in a year’s time after 32 years there. |
 | Pendragon (PDG), the owner of Car Store and Evans Halshaw, has revealed it expects its full-year loss to come in at the ‘bottom end’ of expectations. |
| Investment house M&G has extended the suspension of its £2.3billion Property Portfolio fund, which was down 7.9 per cent over 2019, ‘to best protect the interests of investors in the fund’. | |
 | Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) flew in the face of the troubles at some of its peers as it notched up a record profit in the third quarter and predicted a higher-than-expected net profit for the year. |
 | The costs of Banco Santander S.A. (BNC)’s transformation programme and PPI charges has caused annual UK profits at the firm to fall by 37 per cent. |
| Ovo Energy will pay £8.9million to Ofgem after it found that some customers were overcharged and provided with inaccurate information. | |
| Apple has posted record results for the final three months of last year delivered by strong gains in iPhone sales – in the best-ever quarter for the gadget maker. |
| The 300,000 investors of Neil Woodford’s flagship Equity Income fund could face losses of up to 60pc as money in the defunct portfolio starts being returned to the manager’s former backers. Link Fund Solutions, the fund’s administrator, said it would start returning money generated from selling down 74pc of the fund’s £2.9bn in assets this week. | |
| Addison Lee’s banks have struck a deal to take control of Europe’s biggest minicab firm. Lenders have agreed to inject £45m of new cash into the debt-laden business, according to sources. | |
 | Ryanair Holdings (RYA) has warned pilots it could cut jobs and close bases after the delivery date of its first 10 Boeing 737 Max jets was pushed back to at least the autumn. |
 | BT Group (BT.A) has scrapped its remaining overseas call centres in a move that will see all issues raised by British and Irish customers dealt with by local support services for the first time in nearly two decades. |
| The owner of struggling John Lewis and Waitrose will stop publishing weekly updates on how many goods it has sold as it inches closer to bringing the two businesses together. | |
| Airbus has agreed to settle bribery and corruption allegations with authorities in the UK, France and the US that have dogged the European airplane manufacturer for years. |
| UK approves limited 5G role for China’s Huawei. London gives green light in spite of US warnings about the risk posed by Chinese company. | |
 | Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) profits tumble after sales hit by Brexit paralysis. The FTSE 250 housebuilder also takes charge for fire safety review after Grenfell tragedy. |
| Boeing Co (BOE) tightens its belt as Max crisis drains cash. The cost of grounding puts debt, dividends, buybacks and defence contract bids under review. |
| Ryanair Holdings (RYA) boss says UK was ‘blindsided by billionaires’ over Flybe. Michael O’Leary demands carrier’s owners foot bill for rescue deal rather than taxpayers. |
| Six eurozone banks fall short of ECB capital requirements. The rise in lenders missing targets underlines continued fragility of European banking sector. | |
| LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE is ‘cautiously optimistic’ for 2020 despite China challenge. The owner of Louis Vuitton brand delivers robust quarter driven by growth in fashion and leather goods. | |
| Kama Sutra publisher Quarto Group rebuffs £90m takeover. US investor Richard Hurowitz had proposed a 100p a share deal. | |
| Airbus reaches deal to settle corruption probes. The aerospace group is set to accept hefty fines to end inquiries in three jurisdictions. | |
| Cathay Pacific Airways to sharply reduce flights to mainland China. The decision reflects Hong Kong government plan and ‘market demand’. | |
| United Technologies says Max woes to hit profits at aerospace unit. Raytheon merger and new US regulation also expected to be a drag. |
 | Consumer goods manufacturer PZ Cussons (PZC) says ‘challenging market conditions’ have caused half-year revenues to decline by £9.5million. The Imperial Leather brand owner also registered a 13 per cent fall in operating profits in the six months to 30 November 2019. |
| Apple’s rumoured iPhone SE 2 could be delayed and production on the iPhone 11 scaled back due to the impact of the deadly coronavirus on supply lines in China. | |
 | A former TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) executive suing the telecoms giant under the equal pay law today described her redundancy from the company as a ‘sham’. Rebecca Burke, 43, of Yately, Hampshire, was paid a basic salary of £110,000 as she helped lead the firm’s cyber security programme after a high-profile data breach. |
 | Over 50s’ firm Saga (SAGA) has seen under-pressure shares sail higher as the cruise specialist said profits remain on track in spite of a £4million hit from the collapse of Thomas Cook. |
| Wonga mis-selling victims to find out compensation figures in days. Almost 390,000 people who successfully complained about unaffordable loans from collapsed payday lender Wonga will soon find out their compensation. | |
| Ryanair Ryanair Holdings (RYA) has warned pilots of possible base closures and job cuts as the date for delivery of its first 10 Boeing 737 MAX jets slipped into the autumn, Reuters has reported. |
 | Sainsbury (J) (SBRY)‘s Coupe denies his exit is down to botched merger with Asda. The departing boss of Sainsbury’s has denied that his exit was prompted by the botched merger with Asda as he said it was ‘absolutely’ his choice to leave the supermarket. |
| Virgin Money UK PLC (VMUK) saw mortgage lending fall to £59.6billion from £60.1billion in the previous quarter but its business loans and personal lending divisions grew by about £200million each in the last quarter, it said today. | |
 | Just Eat (JE.) has struck a deal with McDonald’s to become its ‘second exclusive delivery partner’ in the UK after Uber Eats. The move follows a similar deal with Greggs announced last week as the delivery group ramps up its growth plans and targets the biggest names in fast food. |
| Ryanair Holdings (RYA) has warned pilots and cabin crew it could close bases and cut jobs after the date for delivery of its first 10 of Boeing’s grounded 737 Max aircraft slipped into the autumn. |
| The administrators of the failed Woodford funds have told the 300,000 investors locked in since last June that they will receive an initial payout of just 46p to 57p per share – compared with the 100p price at launch five years ago. | |
| The struggling John Lewis Partnership is to stop publishing its weekly sales figures and said it would in future provide updates on its trading only every six months. | |
| Airbus has agreed a settlement with French, British and US authorities over investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption that could result in the aerospace group paying fines worth billions of pounds. | |
| Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) has pledged to spend £1bn to become a carbon-neutral business by 2040, 10 years ahead of the government’s target for a net-zero economy. |
| Businesses are stopping staff travel to China and urging workers inside the country to stay out of the office as concerns grow about the continued spread of the coronavirus from the central city of Wuhan to the rest of China and beyond. |
| Airbus is to pay an estimated €3 billion in fines and penalties to Britain, France and America after plea-bargaining its way out of multinational investigations in to long-running accusations of bribery and corruption. | |
| Retail sales fell flat this month as the gloom surrounding the festive period spread into the new year. According to the CBI, sales volumes were unchanged in the year to January and retailers expect the stagnation to continue into February. | |
| Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST)‘s new chief executive has pledged to return the company to its place as “one of the UK’s leading housebuilders” after the company reported a sharp fall in annual profit. |
| Stephen Clarke, the former boss of WH Smith, has landed a new chief executive role at Europe’s biggest vet chain in a move that reunites him with Kate Swann, his predecessor at WH Smith. He is joining IVC Evidensia, which has 1,371 veterinary clinics in 11 countries employing 19,000 people. | |
| Disappointing sales of a blockbuster cancer drug and declining revenue from a pain relief medication lay behind the quarterly loss reported by Pfizer today. | |
| A broker to Finablr PLC (FIN) has cut its target share price for the struggling foreign exchange group below the level at which it was floated less than a year ago. | |
 | Halma (HLMA) has moved swiftly to seal its first acquisitions of the year, snapping up two businesses for a combined initial price of £80 million. |
| A British private equity group is hoping to raise £200 million for a new investment trust that will target social and renewable infrastructure and property. Cabot Square Capital is preparing to list Cabot Square Alternatives on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. | |
 | AstraZeneca (AZN) sells rights to older drugs in Atnahs Pharma deal. One of Britain’s biggest drugs companies has offloaded a package of blood pressure medicines for up to $390 million as it focuses on new potential blockbusters. |
| The government has brought in the same turnaround advisers used during the collapse of Thomas Cook to counsel ministers on how much cash they should inject into Flybe. |
| Global markets spooked by coronavirus fears. The FTSE 100 is on track for its worst day in nearly four months as concerns over the possible economic impact of the coronavirus in China hit stock markets around the world. | |
| Flybe could struggle to secure a government loan on “commercial terms” because its billionaire investors already hold comprehensive security over many of its assets, it has emerged. | |
| The former chairwoman of the healthcare technology company, founded by Lord Drayson was allegedly forced out over a disagreement regarding links to a Conservative party donor. | |
| At least six Ernst & Young Global partners are expected to enter the race to be the next managing partner of the accountancy firm when it formally begins this week. The audit watchdog has criticised accountancy firms for the dominance of “white men” in senior roles. | |
| Wall Street is braced for full-year results from this week that are expected to be an “absolute disaster” amid the aircraft manufacturer’s continuing travails with the grounded 737 Max. | |
| Investors waiting to hear whether can afford to complete a promised share buyback are bracing for the company to report a sharp drop in profits. |
| The number of mortgages approved by Britain’s high street banks jumped to the highest level for almost five years in December, in the latest sign of a revival in the housing market. The Bank of England could be more likely to leave interest rates on hold amid property upturn. | |
| Subprime lender has put itself up for sale and warned of “increased pressure” on the business amid a regulatory crackdown and a rise in the number of customer complaints. | |
| A £30bn British pension fund has threatened to sack investment managers that do not take action on the climate crisis, criticising the sector as “not fit for purpose”. Brunel Pension Partnership said it would review the mandates of asset managers that don’t reduce exposure to climate risk by 2022. | |
| Rising concerns over the coronavirus outbreak in China prompted the FTSE 100 to fall by more than 2%, or 155 points, to 7,430 after steep losses overnight in Japan. Markets across Europe fell sharply and Wall Street was also expected to open lower later on Monday. | |
| Boris Johnson has hinted he will arrive at a compromise solution over the decision on whether to let the Chinese company Huawei build parts of the UK’s 5G network in the face of US warnings that it will compromise intelligence-sharing. | |
| Saudi Arabia criticised over pirate TV service ‘that airs Premier League’. The EU says country has failed to halt BeoutQ, which reportedly also airs La Liga and Serie A. | |
| The upmarket fashion chain Reiss, said to be a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge, reported that sales jumped by a fifth over the Christmas period as its private equity owner begins to seek a buyer for the group. |
| Mortgage lending hits 10-year high as low rates and election result tempt buyers. Almost 1m mortgages were approved by big high street banks in 2019, the highest number since 2009 as the housing market gets back on its feet. | |
| High-interest lender has put itself up for sale less than two months after founder James Benamor returned to the struggling company and removed its chief executive and chairman. | |
| City traders dumped shares in on Monday after it emerged that the company faces fresh problems with its Trent 1000 engine. Rolls-Royce’s stock – also affected by the coronavirus – fell nearly 4pc to 632p, a low not seen since 2016. | |
| The MP for Scarborough and Whitby has been rebuffed in his last-ditch efforts to try to save small-time investors in a Yorkshire miner from steep losses, with mining titan restating its intention to offer £405m in cash for ailing . |
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